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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16)
by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com© 2003-20,
online since Feb. 24, 2003
WebPage Visits: real non-robot hits since 2010; approx. 25k posts since 2003~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $Research Links:
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Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
Section 1983 Blog"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't."
—Me“I am still learning.”
—Domenico Giuntalodi (but misattributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti (common phrase throughout 1500's))."Love work; hate mastery over others; and avoid intimacy with the government."
—Shemaya, in the Thalmud"A system of law that not only makes certain conduct criminal, but also lays down rules for the conduct of the authorities, often becomes complex in its application to individual cases, and will from time to time produce imperfect results, especially if one's attention is confined to the particular case at bar. Some criminals do go free because of the necessity of keeping government and its servants in their place. That is one of the costs of having and enforcing a Bill of Rights. This country is built on the assumption that the cost is worth paying, and that in the long run we are all both freer and safer if the Constitution is strictly enforced."
—Williams v. Nix, 700 F. 2d 1164, 1173 (8th Cir. 1983) (Richard Sheppard Arnold, J.), rev'd Nix v. Williams, 467 US. 431 (1984)."The criminal goes free, if he must, but it is the law that sets him free. Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence."
—Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 659 (1961)."Any costs the exclusionary rule are costs imposed directly by the Fourth Amendment."
—Yale Kamisar, 86 Mich.L.Rev. 1, 36 n. 151 (1987)."There have been powerful hydraulic pressures throughout our history that bear heavily on the Court to water down constitutional guarantees and give the police the upper hand. That hydraulic pressure has probably never been greater than it is today."
— Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 39 (1968) (Douglas, J., dissenting)."The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure their property."
—Entick v. Carrington, 19 How.St.Tr. 1029, 1066, 95 Eng. Rep. 807 (C.P. 1765)"It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people. And so, while we are concerned here with a shabby defrauder, we must deal with his case in the context of what are really the great themes expressed by the Fourth Amendment."
—United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 69 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting)"The course of true law pertaining to searches and seizures, as enunciated here, has not–to put it mildly–run smooth."
—Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 618 (1961) (Frankfurter, J., concurring)."A search is a search, even if it happens to disclose nothing but the bottom of a turntable."
—Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 325 (1987)"For the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. ... But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected."
—Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351 (1967)“Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
—United States v. Olmstead, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1925) (Brandeis, J., dissenting)“Liberty—the freedom from unwarranted intrusion by government—is as easily lost through insistent nibbles by government officials who seek to do their jobs too well as by those whose purpose it is to oppress; the piranha can be as deadly as the shark.”
—United States v. $124,570, 873 F.2d 1240, 1246 (9th Cir. 1989)"You can't always get what you want / But if you try sometimes / You just might find / You get what you need."
—Mick Jagger & Keith Richards"In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me–and by that time there was nobody left to speak up."
—Martin Niemöller (1945) [he served seven years in a concentration camp]“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
"The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime."
---Pepé Le Pew
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
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Category Archives: Nexus
N.D.Ohio: Ongoing drug operation overcame staleness challenge
The 71-page affidavit for search warrant here did not go stale before issuance. There was plenty of information about an ongoing drug operation. Between then and when the officers decided to get a search warrant, the original information hadn’t gone … Continue reading
CA1: Govt showed nexus to house that drug dealers keep money, books, customer lists, and product there
The district court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress because there was probable cause to issue the search warrant. It was likely that a drug dealer kept his money, books, and customer lists in a safe place like his residence, … Continue reading
DE: Slim inference for nexus wasn’t enough, and exclusionary rule applies
The affidavit for the search warrant creates only a slim inference at best, and no facts at all, showing a nexus to the place to be searched and the fraud crime under investigation. Therefore, the search warrant lacks probable cause … Continue reading
DE: Just because criminals communicate by cell phone isn’t enough to show nexus
Defendant’s cell phone search was not based on a logical nexus between defendant’s cell phone and the murder. Just because criminals communicate by cell phone isn’t enough here. State v. Johnson, 2019 Del. Super. LEXIS 661 (Dec. 18, 2019):
MA: The fact co-conspirators coordinated in planning the crime was nexus to def’s cell phone
The state showed a nexus to defendant’s cell phone and the crime under investigation because the participants were coordinating with each other before hand. “We have no evidence that the purpose of the cell phone call between the defendant, when … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Facebook photo of def felon with a firearm apparently taken in a home justified a SW for his home
Defendant’s alleged threat on Facebook involving use of firearms, along with a picture of a firearm suggested it was in a home. The search warrant of defendant’s home was with probable cause. Defendant’s effort to “dissect” the affidavit paragraph by … Continue reading
CA1 affirms suppression order; reforming affidavit after Franks hearing shows no nexus to def’s house
The affidavit for the search warrant, reformed after a Franks hearing, did not establish probable cause to search defendant’s home. The affidavit did not set forth facts showing defendant had a history of drug dealing to permit an inference that … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Def’s giving false name justifies extending stop
Defendant’s giving a false name extended the stop and added to the reasonable suspicion to detain him after his true identity was discovered. United States v. Jackson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188225 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 30, 2019). The affidavit for … Continue reading
IL: Def’s leaving house to deliver to a controlled buy was nexus for house
There was nexus for the search warrant for defendant’s house where he was alleged to have left his house and driven directly to the scene of a controlled buy where he was delivering. People v. Teague, 2019 IL App (3d) … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Stop of one suspect created exigency that occupants might destroy evidence; entry justified
The stop of one suspect created exigent circumstances for entry into the premises to freeze it until a warrant could be obtained. The police reasonably feared that occupants would learn of the stop and destroy evidence. On entry, there was … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: Possession of a large quantity of drugs in car after just leaving house shows nexus to house for drugs
“‘A search warrant affidavit need not allege that unlawful activity occurred at the place to be searched; the affidavit need only establish a nexus between the place and the criminal activity.’ United States v. McCown, 762 F. App’x 732, 734 … Continue reading
DE: DNA warrant fails because affidavit for it does show how or why it could be found
“As previously noted, this Court must pay great deference to a magistrate’s determination of probable cause and must take a common-sense approach rather than a hyper-technical approach. Nonetheless, given the totality of the circumstances set forth in the Affidavit, including … Continue reading
